Donald Trump showed up to UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night to a standing ovation from fans awaiting Dustin Poirier’s challenge to Islam Makhachev Main event for the UFC lightweight championship.
Trump walked into the arena with UFC President Dana White. He also stopped to say hello to comedian Theo Fung. Trump shook hands with some fans and waved to the crowd.
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On June 1, 2024, Donald Trump attended the UFC 302 event held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The former president then took his seat outside the UFC Octagon to watch the main event.
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It was Trump’s first public appearance since he was found guilty on all charges in a New York criminal trial on Thursday.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
“This is a disgrace. This is a rigged trial with a contradictory judge who is a rigged trial and a disgrace. This is not going to get us to change the venue,” Trump later said explain. “Our approval rating in this part of the country is five or six percent. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial.”
Trump said, “The real judgment will be made by the people on November 5th.”
Former President Donald Trump (center right) smiles to Dana White (front left) while attending the UFC 302 mixed martial arts event on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Newark, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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“They know what’s going on here, everybody knows what’s going on here,” Trump said. “You have the Soros-backed DA and the whole thing.”
He added: “We did nothing wrong. I’m a very innocent man. It doesn’t matter. I’m fighting for our country. I’m fighting for our Constitution. Our entire country is being rigged right now.”
Trump said the case “was done by the Biden administration to hurt or injure its opponents, political opponents.”
“I think it’s just a disgrace. We’re going to keep fighting – we’re going to fight to the end and we’re going to win because our country has gone to hell,” he said. “We no longer have the same country. We are in the chaos of division. We are a country in decline, in serious decline.”
Trump said, “Millions of people are now pouring into our country from prisons, mental hospitals, terrorists. They are taking over our country. Our country is in big trouble.”
Donald Trump looks up during UFC 302 at Prudential Center on June 1, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
“But this was a rigged decision from the beginning, and a conflicted judge should never have been allowed to hear this case. Never,” he said. “We will fight for our Constitution. This is far from over.”
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Trump attends UFC events on a semi-regular basis. He is close friends with White, who delivered a speech supporting Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Fox News’ Brooke Singleman contributed to this report.
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